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Sunrises and Seminars: The Perfect Formula for a Successful Retreat

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By Natalie Khor

Averaging approximately 3 hours of sleep between them, Tia Emmanuel (9), Ee Rynn Ong (9), Yewon Lee (9), and Jonathan Ooi (9) crawled up out of bed in the wee hours of the morning to watch the sunrise that other students who had previously been to the Lost Paradise resort vouched to be stunning—they were not disappointed. The sky was covered in swatches of purples and pinks, a sight they quickly captured with their phones, only to realize that the camera could never do it justice.

Just the night before, students at the Leadership Retreat enjoyed dinner together in the conference room, followed by a session with Mr. Penland on effective and ineffective leadership. “[The talk] made me think a lot about why I wanted to be here,” commented Tia. “It helped me get more ideas on aspects I need to improve on.”

On the morning of the second day, drowsy students who stumbled into the conference room were greeted with roti canai and milo, a satisfying meal that left them energized and ready for the first session of the day: problem-solving with Ms. Wood. She prepared envelopes with actual circumstances that previous student leaders dealt with and had each committee brainstorm ways they would respond. Many of the crises were shocking. “The one where the presidents were expelled was insane,” exclaimed Jia Ru Sim (11). Other situations included expelled acting leads a week before JSB, the death of a classmate, and more.

For Rebecca Wong (10), the last session of the retreat was her favorite. “We’ve been with our own ExCom the whole time, and so I really liked the picture [activity] because it was something we all did together,” said Rebecca. Mrs. White prepared 30 sheets of pictures distributed among the students that all connected into a story and had them get into the correct chronological order without showing each other their images. Chaos ruled the room initially, but things slowly became organized as people practiced effective communication and active listening, both important takeaways from the activity.

The retreat ended with a friendly puzzle box challenge between each committee, with the PAL committee emerging as the victor. While the other groups crowded around the tables puzzling over their clues, PAL happily snacked on the Airheads and Starbursts they found after they unlocked their box.

After two years of on-campus and online leadership retreats, it was a blessing to finally have one at Lost Paradise once again. Student leaders emerged from this retreat not only more prepared and enthusiastic for the year to come but also sated from the endless meals and snacks provided over this 24-hour trip.

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